MS Blue & Gold Contents

The Front Page

News Site of The International School of
Belgrade Journalism Club

YouTube Video

Money, Money, Money –

Need It? Get a Job.

By Rachel Walker

Money,
money, money, we all need it. Whether it’s for food, clothes, college tuition,
electricity, or jewelry, it’s hard to get on without it. That’s why some kids
these days have part time jobs, especially kids in high school. Preparing for
the responsibility of a job helps kids prepare to go out into the world; and
gives them money which they can then spend freely.Many students jump at this opportunity, Kiša, a twelve
grade student for example when in the U.S.A.; did tutoring for 5 and 6 graders
while being in the tenth grade. Kiša also told of
friends doing part time jobs such as a cashier register in a fast food
restaurant called Chic Fil A, or in a
yogurt stand, and Starbucks. Some
beginning ninth graders even do babysitting around their neighbourhoods. However with all the work that school creates
and how little time students sometimes have…it’s hard to find a job that
doesn’t cause a negative impact on their school work. Sure students might neglect
their studies to do their job, and fail tests because they were too busy
working, BUT there is a way teens can easily avoid this problem.

The main solution is organization.
Students should try to schedule their jobs to only need them on days when they
can spare, and so that work doesn’t disrupt their studies.Maybe creating a schedule even, one that organizes
students study hours, work hours, social hours and free time. Also students
could talk to their teachers and bosses to explain their situation, and get
them to help create an organized schedule.

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Enjoy some photos

from our December

photography edition.

A Slideshow of Student Work from The Blue & Gold's December Photography Edition

Eyes on
FriesBy M. Perovic

Most
of the International School of Belgrade students complain about not having a
cafeteria in the school. Well, apparently we’re not so unlucky. At least we can
eat as much as we want. According to Health
Freedom Alliance, elementary schools in San Antonio, Texas are installing
cameras into their cafeterias so they could see how much food the students eat.
This is one of the ways to fight the rising obesity rate among children in the
United States. According to kidshealth.org, one out of three kids in this
country is overweight. Based on the amount of food children eat every day,
local nutritionists will organize a diet. This means that the children in San
Antonio will not be allowed to eat as much food as they like. Same goes for
their favourite types of food. If the specialists consider them to be
overweight, they won’t be allowed to have candy. Dr Robert Trevino, one of the
researches, said that by doing this they will be able to determine “Whether
current programs that are aimed at preventing obesity work, and whether they are
really changing students’ behavior”. They also plan to implement programs such
as this one in elementary schools all over the United States.

Nevertheless jobs
are always needed for a financial freedom, of course, people want a job
they
enjoy, pays well and needs their expertise.

Below are a list of jobs that in an interview with high school students are recommended for trying out:

·Life guard

·Swim instructor

·Stable help (helping horses)

·Dog walker

·Refereeing

·Selling tickets at movie theatre (most times a plus factor is free
movies)

·Babysitting/pet sitting

·Homework tutoring

Some jobs that
were not so popular amongst according to a Helium Website article:

·Fast food employee

·Labor and industry jobs

·Food stores

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The Blue & Gold Mission Statement

The Blue & Gold is
published so that other students attending ISB
can be informed about what’s going on in the world and their school
community. The newspaper is published twice a month and includes
columns concerning ISB community news, world issues, the environment,
entertainment, and
sports.

The
aim of The Blue and Gold is to produce and publish genuine and
appropriate articles for the students, staff and teachers at ISB. We
pride ourselves in writing original articles and giving credit where
credit is due. Our journalists strive to embody the values of
integrity, honesty, respect, and responsibility.

This
might be an effective way
of helping kids stay healthy, but maybe they should do something else,
like
adding more physical activity, instead of forbidding children to eat
food they
like. We can’t really say much for certain before we see the results
though,
but we’re still allowed to have personal opinions. So, what do you say –
is
that plan just a way to make the time students spend in school even more
annoying, or is it actually going to help? I would honestly hate having
tasty
food taken away from me, but I will leave to final conclusion up to you.Yet while schools like this one
might be overreacting, ISB does not really do much to inform its
students about
healthy nutrition. We don’t really know the amount of calories in the
sandwiches we buy from the student store. I can’t remember if we ever
had an
ISB time day dedicated to nutrition. So in the end, being hysterical
isn’t that
much worse than not caring at all.

Death of Osama Bin Laden

By Marko M. Jukic

Operation Neptune Spear. The
code-name of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group’s
military operation that aimed to finally capture or kill Osama bin Laden, the
much sought-after and evasive leader of the infamous (and arguably the most
dangerous) Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda. Bin Laden and his terrorist
organization were most notorious for the orchestration and execution of the
September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, which resulted in the
deaths of about 3000 innocent civilians and injured more than twice as many.
The wanted mastermind survived four previous attempts on his life (in 1994,
1998, 2000 and 2001) and became an icon of evil in the West in the years
following the 9/11 attacks. Many criticized the United States’ government and
other Western anti-terrorist organizations for failing to apprehend Bin Laden
for so many years, but closure finally came to many angered Americans when the
news of his death was announced on the first of May (the same date that
Hitler’s death was announced in 1945, perhaps the only other figure in history
to carry the same level of notoriety and infamy as Osama bin Laden)! Bin Laden was killed in his
custom-built compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in which he was living in as
early as 2005. The compound was noted as being specially made for a person of
significance, boasting 12-18 foot high walls topped with barbed wire and no
Internet or land-line phones to compromise the inhabitant. American Navy SEALs
entered the area in two modified Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters, and breached
the compound with the aid of explosives around 1am local time. There was a
short firefight between the SEALs and the residents of the compound, resulting
in the deaths of 4 of Bin Laden’s associates, and ultimately in Bin Laden’s death.
The entire raid took only 38 minutes and went off without a hitch -- Pakistani
officials (who were unaware of the raid) did not interfere and no SEALs were
harmed. Bin Laden’s body was quickly disposed of in the North Arabian Sea,
sparking outrage from some Muslim communities and giving birth to a slew of
conspiracy theories about his death (which were only fuelled by the United
States government’s decision to not release photographs of Bin Laden’s corpse). The news of his death was met
with enthusiastic approval and joy. Within minutes of the formal announcement,
crowds had gathered outside of the Pentagon, the White House and Ground Zero to
celebrate, and the popular micro-blogging website Twitter experienced a
record-breaking 5000 tweets per second! Critics chided the widespread
celebration over a person’s death, but global response was overwhelmingly
positive, with but a few exceptions, none of them notable. Despite Bin Laden’s
death, government officials across the world urged the need to continue the War
on Terror and recognize this victory not as a military one, but as a symbolic
one. Osama bin Laden’s death does not mean the end of terrorism, but is an
emblematic milestone in the journey to end extremism and the senseless deaths
of civilians worldwide.

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Stop the Drama

By: Shahaf Shay

On Friday the 13th of May, Overtures in Times concluded the drama
performances for the school year 2010-2011. There were three main performances
in this event. The 9th grade performances consisted of scenes that were written
and directed by students. The after school play was directed by Mrs. Sands.
This play was a Greek comedy with Ancient origins. The 10th graders went in a
different direction and successfully produced a creative play with many
different endings. They took a published scene and wrote different ends to it.
All in all people enjoyed it a lot.

Mr. Hancock has commented on the
9th grade performance saying, “I was surprised by each piece, and found that
each one had a hook or a twist that makes great drama”. He continued, “As a
teacher, it was great to see the students excelling in an activity that
connected to the Performing Arts realm”.

The Greek play has also received
great comments. Emre, Mrs. Standley's son came to visit Belgrade and saw the
performance. He exclaimed that the stage, the amphitheater, was amazing! He
proclaimed that it added to the ambiance. In addition he found the plays very
amusing and funny, though he found the sub-plots a bit confusing and at times
hard to connect.

All in all, the last Drama performance
of this school year was a great success. The actors are satisfied and blissful
that they are over with the performance, but they are also wondering what next
year will hold for them.

BLOOD IN

THE SAND

By Marko M. Jukic

“I’m not afraid to
die! I’m afraid to lose the battle!” These defiant words
come from one of the many Libyan youths now risen in revolt against
their tyrannical dictator of four decades -- Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
Gaddafi seized power in a military coup in 1969 and led a state of
oppression, terrorism and gross nepotism for forty-two years, leaving
Libya a pariah state and perpetually under UN sanctions. His
uninterrupted reign of terror came to a grinding halt on February 15,
2011, as major political protests inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and
Egypt broke out across the country. Initially peaceful, the protests
quickly turned into revolts as police fired on the unarmed civilians. By
this point, Gaddafi had already begun jailing key Libyan personalities
who supported the rebellion. On the 17th of February, a “Day of Rage”
was planned, during which any and all Libyans who opposed the regime
were called upon to protest. As February turned to March, the
revolution was in full bloody swing. The National Transitional Council
(the NTC, also known as the Libyan National
Council or
Interim
National Council) had been formed to represent the rebels and give the
revolution an international face, proclaiming itself the “sole
representative of all Libya”. NATO intervened and began enforcing a
strict “no-fly” zone over Libya, and assisted the rebels by carrying out
tactical missile strikes and bombings on pro-Gaddafi forces and
strongholds (although there was some confusion when rebel tanks were
accidentally bombed).

When his own army refused to shoot unarmed protesters,
Gaddafi hired foreign mercenaries (Chadian, Nigerian, Malian, even Serbian) to do the job,
paying them $1000-$3100 a day to mow down civilians, according to the
Jamestown Foundation. The soldiers who refused to partake in these
atrocities were systematically executed or simply burned alive.
Indiscriminate violence against children has been documented as well, according to
surgeon Abdulmajid Ali. Dissident anger only rose at this news, and the
anti-Gaddafi fervor heightened even faster after the Colonel announced a
ceasefire, then promptly disregarded it and continued hostilities. His
soldiers weren’t the only defectors however; several senior public
officials resigned and denounced Gaddafi’s regime, including the Justice
Minister, Interior Minister, Foreign Minister, Prosecutor General and
others.

Muslim
organizations across the world condemned the dictator and demanded
Libyans fight for their freedom, with a prominent cleric from Egypt even
issuing a fatwa for Gaddafi’s death
("Whoever in the Libyan army is able to shoot a bullet at Mr. Qaddafi
should do so."). Early in March Gaddafi’s forces launched an offensive
towards the East, aiming at rebel strongholds, but were pushed back, and
now remain in a constant battle. As of April 20, the rebels remain
dominant in the Eastern part of the nation, in cities such as Benghazi
and Tobruk, while Gaddafi home base remains the official capital in the
West, Tripoli. Gaddafi’s demise is inevitable, although whether it will
come sooner or later is unclear. We can only urge men and women to fight
for the same ideals our forefathers fought for, and hope that the bells
of freedom will soon ring in Libya, and in the rest of the Middle East,
and some day throughout the whole world.